The wealth gap between the richest Koreans in their 20s and 30s and their poorest peers increased more in 2021 than the previous year, a lawmaker said, citing data compiled by Statistics Korea. In 2021, the top 20 percent of wealthy Koreans in their 20s and 30s held 981.85 million won ($764,442) on average, 35.27 times that of the 27.84 million won held by the bottom 20 percent in the same demographic. That was an incremental increase from the 35.2 times in 2020, according to Rep. Kim Hoi-jae

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is considering easing the burden of gift tax by raising the upper limit of tax-free capital transfers from the current 50 million won ($38,900), documents from relevant ministries showed Monday. Currently, the authority does not levy gift taxes as long as parents or grandparents conduct capital transfer to their children or grandchildren within the limit of 50 million won per child. If the transfer exceeds 50 million won, the parents and grandparents

South Korea has yet to arrive at a stage where the option of a “big step” or half a percentage point rate hike can be completely ruled out, with the possibility of higher inflationary pressure looming over the economy, the nation’s central bank chief said Monday. Following his breakfast meeting with Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong told reporters the uncertainties surrounding Korea’s inflation is keeping the central bank from taking the

　 Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Sunday the government will make it a top priority to stabilize rising product prices fueled by the Russia-Ukraine war and other external uncertainties. 　The government will set up measures for price stabilization through consultations with related ministries as quickly as possible, the finance minister said in a meeting in Seoul. 　 　“South Korea stands at a serious and urgent stage as the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war, major economies‘ monetary ti

South Korea's state power firm Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) on Friday reported a record-high operating loss in the first quarter of this year due to high global energy costs and the freeze in electricity rates. Operating loss for the January-March period hit an all-time quarterly high of 7.78 trillion won ($6.06 billion), compared with the operating profit of 565.6 billion won from a year earlier, the state-run firm said in its regulatory filing. The figure is even larger than the company'

Fiscal deficit to reach 68 trillion won from support package

Market expects eased rules on loans, measures to protect consumers

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is moving to offer 6 million won ($4,700) or more per self-employed person in its supplementary budget, as part of the new government’s first policy to compensate those who suffered financial loss from state-led business restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. President Yoon, who took office on Tuesday, stressed the necessity of implementing a supplementary budget for the support package as promptly as possible while presiding over his first mee

South Korea's exports rose 28.7 percent in the first 10 days of May from a year earlier on the back of demand for chips and petroleum products, but the trade deficit widened over high global energy prices, customs data showed Wednesday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $16.1 billion in the May 1-10 period, compared with $12.5 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports jumped 34.7 percent on-year to $19.78 billion, resulting in a trade deficit

South Korea reported job additions for the 14th consecutive month in April as economic recovery momentum has been extended despite heightened global uncertainty, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people came to 28.08 million last month, up 865,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The April reading was higher than an on-year increase of 831,000 in March and also marked the most job additions for any April since 2000, when the number of employe

SEJONG -- Almost 1 out of every 2 state-funded agencies in South Korea were in the red last year, state data showed Tuesday, in the wake of the ongoing pandemic and soaring oil prices. Of the 362 public agencies surveyed, 170, or 46.9 percent, suffered operating losses in 2021, according to Alio, a system that publicizes management information of public agencies. They included the Korea Electric Power Corp. and the Incheon International Airport Corp. Kepco posted the largest deficit with an op

South Korea continued to post a current account surplus for nearly two years in a row in March, but the surplus contracted as soaring oil prices drove up import costs, central bank data showed Tuesday. The Bank of Korea (BOK) worried there is a possibility of the country posting a "temporary" current account deficit in April due to mounting energy bills and a rise in corporate dividend payouts in the month. According to the preliminary data from the BOK, the current account surplus rea

Almost half of South Koreans in their 20s said they would prefer to be part of a couple that does not have children after marriage in 2020, in a jump from 2015, when only 3 in 10 Koreans backed the idea, a local think tank said Monday. In 2015, 29.1 percent of Koreans in their 20s said raising children was not a must, whereas in 2020, 52.4 percent said yes to the same idea, according to the Korea Development Institute. Meanwhile, the number of those who said they would have children after marr

SEJONG -- More than 100,000 temporary jobs in the public sector have been converted into regular jobs during the Moon Jae-in administration, whose term expires Monday midnight, state data showed. According to Alio, a system for publicizing management information of 370 public agencies, 101,720 nonregular jobs were converted into regular jobs between May 2017 and May 2022. The outgoing president had pledged to have “zero irregular jobs” in state-funded agencies. The new permane

Ahead of the scheduled South Korea-US summit next week, some lawmakers and experts have been calling for a revival of the bilateral currency swap as a countermeasure to the growing signs of a weakening won, reports said Monday. South Korean market was rattled on Friday when its local currency hit its lowest point in over two years, trading at 1,272.7 won against the US greenback at around 3:30 p.m. It eclipsed the previous low of 1,285.7 won against the US dollar reached in March 19, 2020 when